Pages

Monday, April 26, 2010

Because it's Monday (or at least it was when I started this post, but four tries later on Tuesday morning is when I finally got the video to upload).

A couple things to note about this video:

1) Because Gabe is wearing the same shirt that he wore in another video I recently posted, I want to just say for the record that we do put him in other clothes. It's just that apparently I only take videos of him in this shirt.

2) Nothing amazing happens in this video. I don't want you to watch it thinking that Gabe's going to start reciting the Articles of Confederation halfway through, or that a scary gremlin is going to pop onto the screen and yell "Boo!" (because trust me, around 1 minute and 20 seconds you will think to yourself: "Hmm. Is this it? Really? "). It's just 3 minutes and 16 seconds of me thinking my kid is worth recording. He does a little laughing and babbling for about a minute, and then he remembers the rice rusk in his hand and spends the rest of the time either trying to eat it, trying to pick food shrapnel from it off the tray, or banging it on the tray. Who knew it was such a versatile baby distracting device?

Ok, that is all.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

I miss being pregnant...sort of...not really...actually, only for one reason.

You know how there are some women who say they loved being pregnant?  They loved how they looked, they loved how they felt, they loved feeling life growing inside them.

And then there are women that say they really did not care for being pregnant.  They did not enjoy how they looked, most certainly did not enjoy how they felt, and were anxious to have the life growing inside them brought outside them so they could go back to looking and feeling their regular selves again.

Well I fall somewhere in the middle of the two.  I'm glad I had the experience, I'm amazed by the Miracle of Life, and I feel privileged that I got to participate in it.  But by about the 8th month, I was tired of worrying, tired of not being able to see my baby, tired of being uncomfortable, and just plain in general tired.  I was ready to get Gabriel into the world and get on with it already (and I'm sure my antsy-ness is the reason he decided to stay put in-utero for a couple extra weeks past his due date!).

But lately...I miss being pregnant.  Specifically, I miss one thing about being pregnant. 

I miss the fact that people could see, just by looking at you, the reason for your:  tired, vacant expression; scatterbrained-ness; lack of ability to concentrate on conversation; distractedness; undone hair haphazardly put up into a ponytail; lack of makeup; jeans and t-shirt and comfortable shoes; and stains on your shirt (am I the only pregnant woman who managed to end up with part of her meal on her shirt every day??).

When you're pregnant, you get oodles of sympathy and concern from everyone who sees you, because they can SEE the "why" behind the "what".

But now...no such luck. 

Gabriel has a bunch of fun onesies that say things like "I love Grandma" and "Dad loves me" and "My Auntie is the Best".  I am seriously considering having a t-shirt made for myself that says "I'm sorry, I'm having trouble paying attention to you because I have a new baby whom I think is fabulous and who consumes 90% of my thoughts.  I am tired and didn't put makeup on this morning, but I don't really care what you think about that because my son smiles at me a lot and so it seems he doesn't care if mommy's eyelashes are Lash-blasted or not.  And yes, that stain on my shoulder is where he spit up on me this morning after I thought I was in the clear and so didn't notice I'd been hit until after I'd left the house."

I have realized, though, that the time it would take for someone to read the t-shirt would be a really prolonged, awkward, staring-at-my-chest experience.  So maybe I'll just swipe a fake baby bump from a maternity store dressing room instead and start wearing that around.  Or make my own, since stealing one would be really weird (yeah yeah...and illegal too, of course).  Imagine how much sympathy and concern I would get looking pregnant AND carrying a 6 month old baby!?

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Dear Gabriel

Dear Gabriel:

I need your help!  I'm a new mom and I'm having trouble figuring out some of my baby son's behavior.  He whines when he eats his solid food - does he not like the taste or am I not feeding him fast enough?  He's stopped sleeping through the night - is he teething, or going through a growth spurt, or adjusting to our new routine because I've gone back to work?

Thanks,

Your Mother in Sultan, WA

That's right Gabe, this is your mother.  I want you to know that I'm very proud of you for having your own column, but you're still in trouble for getting a job without asking your father and I first.



Hi Mom!

Now that you know about my column, can I have my own laptop?  Haha, just kidding.  Unless you'd really let me have my own laptop??

Actually, they told us in our "first time baby/first time parents" class in heaven that our parents would have trouble correctly interpreting all of our behaviors and noises.  For a really long time.  

A really, really, really long time. 

But they assured us that our parents would be trying hard to figure us out, so our job was to keep communicating, even when we felt like giving up and just crying all the time.  

The funny part is (not ha-ha funny, ironic funny), even though I have superb command of the written word at this early stage of my life, we were also instructed in heaven not to inform our parents in writing of how we feel or what we're trying to say.

Trust me Mom, that direction was as frustrating and seemingly ridiculous to me as I'm sure it is to you.  But are YOU going to tell God that to His face?  Exactly.  Which is why all the babies in the class looked confused but just nodded in assent.  He went on to explain that parents and babies learning from each other using only the basics of communication (facial expressions and tone of vocalizations) is part of what seals the bond between them.  Makes complete sense!  And you thought God's directions were silly at first.  tsk tsk.  I know I am playing with fire by teasing you in my column...after all, you're the one with all the embarassing pictures of me.

You may wonder why I'm allowed to explain all the above but I'm not allowed to just write you a note about what I'm thinking or feeling when I whine or cry.  When I got your "Dear Gabriel" letter, I felt that printing and responding to it would be of value to all the new babies and new parents out there.  So I asked God about it and He said okay.  I don't think He's going to be thrilled about my teasing you - I think I'm dancing on the border of not honoring my mother and father a little here - but I know God has a sense of humor (have you seen how my hair's growing in?  He for sure has a sense of humor!) so I'm just going to go with it.

Mom, don't worry...we'll figure each other out.  You're doing a great job so far (I smile and laugh and I'm chubby...so obviously you're doing something right)!

Love you,

Gabriel

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Lessons Learned

1) The trick is heating the veggies.

2) Beans really are the musical fruit.